Interesting history of early transfusion experiments.animal lover's be warned- it is honest ( )

The style of writing was fatiguing, and I thought the author jumped all over the place, without really maintaining a sense of smooth transition. I was excited to read this, but ended up skimming a lot. I also found all the experimentation on dogs to be disturbing. This could've been a really good work in the hands of an author like Michael Crichton or Richard Preston. ( )

I love how the author styled the book to be immersive in the time period and the cast. At first I had mixed feelings about this because it adds too much filler if you want to read the book for explicit facts about the history of blood transfusion, but in retrospect I see how it comes together to form a unique story.

It was difficult to read the details of the animal experiments. I wouldn't have it any other way--there's no point in blinding ourselves from what actually happened--but despite keeping that in mind it kept the book's overall likeability factor down.

It was amazing how some of the content initially seemed irrelevant to the title and subtitle, but those apparent irrelevances weaved into the time's societal conscience toward medicine and research. It can be easy to look down upon the thoughts of a time period without context--often students in high school, who merely memorize enough to get the grade they want, sharply state how "stupid people were back then".

For instance there is a part where Rene Descartes suggested that animals lacked souls and therefore could not feel pain. But Tucker addressed that some of the populous opposed Descartes's philosophy and the experimentation. Good to know that despite the lack of legal protection back then some people did value ethical treatment of animals.

There's also interesting insight the history of physicians. We may tease modern doctors for not spending time with patients, but the 1600s they merely told other people how to administer treatments. Arguably they didn't learn medicine--none of the philosophies mentioned in the book came from biology, and even shunned chemistry. I would love to find a book that more broadly addresses the history of medicine. ( )

Full disclosure, I read about 80 pages into this book, then I skimmed the rest. It was too difficult reading about the horrible experiments and what scientists did to both humans and animals. So, let's talk about why I gave this four stars.

Blood Work is the story of the first blood transfusion experiments in the 17th century. I say story because Tucker has created a really strong narrative voice in her book. The subject matter is interesting, but the way Tucker writes makes it even more interesting.

If you like very minutely detailed writing of historical scientific procedures (and you have a strong stomach), this book is for you. I have the former, but not the latter. The level of detail that Tucker uses to describe the procedures was too much for me. It made me sad and alarmed, which did not make for good reading. But, I still think the subject of the book is infinitely interesting (blood, it's so weird), and it's a story well told, so hence the 4 stars. ( )

Lots of good information but in some instances feels more opinionated rather then direct facts. I would not use this book for citations for papers but use it as a stepping stone for searching out more research for papers. Definitely worth the read if you want to know more about blood letting and transfusions for the 16th century. ( )